Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho (born , ) is a Canadian professional wrestler currently wrestling in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment The Y2J Problem and Intercontinental Champion (1999–2000) Jericho alternated between WCW and a number of Japanese tours before he signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on June 30. In the weeks before Jericho's debut, a clock labelled "countdown to the new millennium" appeared on WWF programming. On the home video, Break Down the Walls, Jericho states he was inspired to do this as his entrance when he saw a similar clock in a post office. Vince McMahon gave him the green light to use it as his intro to the WWF. The clock finally ran down on the August 9, 1999 episode of Raw, in Chicago, Illinois. Whilst The Rock was in the ring cutting a promo on the Big Show, Jericho entered the arena and proclaimed "Raw is Jericho" and that he had "come to save the World Wrestling Federation", referring to himself as "Y2J" (a play on the Y2K bug). The Rock proceeded to verbally mock him for his interruption. Later that month, Jericho made his in-ring debut on August 26, 1999, losing by disqualification in a match against Road Dogg on the inaugural episode of SmackDown! after powerbombing Road Dogg through a table. Jericho's first long-term feud was with Chyna, for the Intercontinental Championship. After losing to Chyna at the Survivor Series,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jericho#cite_note-22Jericho won his first Intercontinental title at Armageddon. This feud included a controversial decision during a rematch in which two separate referees declared each one of them the winner of a match for the title. As a result, they became co-owners of the title until Jericho attained sole ownership at the Royal Rumble. Jericho's subsequent alliance with Chyna, coupled with growing enthusiasm for his ring work and mic skills, effectively turned him into a face. Feuds and teaming with Chris Benoit, heel turn (2000–2001) Jericho lost his title to the European Champion Kurt Angle at No Way Out. On April 2, Jericho competed in a Triple Threat match against Chris Benoit and Angle at WrestleMania 2000 in a two-falls contest with both of Angle's titles at stake. Jericho won the European Championship by pinning Benoit, who in turn pinned Jericho to take the Intercontinental Championship. This was the first of six pay-per-view matches between the pair within twelve months. Jericho lost the title the next day to Eddie Guerrero on Raw after Chyna turned heel to side with Guerrero. On the April 17 episode of Raw, Jericho upset Triple H in a WWF Championship match. Referee Earl Hebner made a fast count when Jericho pinned Triple H, causing Jericho to win the title.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jericho#cite_note-28Hebner later reversed the decision due to pressure from Triple H, and WWE does not recognize Jericho's reign as champion. On the May 4 episode of SmackDown!, Jericho defeated Benoit to become Intercontinental Champion for the third time,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jericho#cite_note-29but lost the title to Benoit four days later on Raw.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jericho#cite_note-30Meanwhile, Jericho's feud with Triple H climaxed at Fully Loaded, when they competed in a Last Man Standing match. Jericho lost the match to Triple H only by one second, despite the repeated assistance Triple H's wife, Stephanie, provided him in the match. At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Jericho defeated Chris Benoit in a Ladder match to win the Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time. At WrestleMania X-Seven, he successfully defended his title in a match against William Regal,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jericho#cite_note-33only to lose it four days later to Triple H. At Judgment Day, Jericho and Benoit won a Tag Team Turmoil match and earned a shot at Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H for their WWF Tag Team Championship on Raw the next night. Benoit and Jericho won the match, in which Triple H legitimately tore his quadriceps and would spend the rest of the year injured. Benoit and Jericho each became a WWF Tag Team Champion for the first time. The team defended their title in the first Fatal Four-Way Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match where Benoit sustained a year-long injury doing a diving headbutt through a table. Though Benoit was carried out on a stretcher, he returned to the match to climb the ladder and retain the championship. The duo lost the title one month later to the Dudley Boyz on June 19, 2001. That month at King of the Ring, both Benoit and Jericho were named challengers for Austin's WWF Championship in which Booker T interfered as the catalyst for The Invasion angle. Undisputed WWF Champion (2001–2002) In the following months, Jericho became a major force in The Invasion storyline in which WCW and ECW joined forces to overtake the WWF. Jericho remained on the side of the WWF despite previously competing in WCW and ECW. However, Jericho began to show jealousy toward fellow WWF member The Rock. They faced each other in a match at No Mercy for the WCW Championship after Jericho defeated Rob Van Dam in a number one contenders match. Jericho won the WCW Championship when he pinned The Rock after debuting a new finisher, the Breakdown.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jericho#cite_note-36One night later, the two put their differences aside and won the WWF Tag Team title from the Dudley Boyz. After they lost the title to Test and Booker T, they continued their feud. On the November 5 episode of Raw, The Rock defeated Jericho to regain the WCW Championship. Following the match, Jericho attacked The Rock with a steel chair. At the Survivor Series, Jericho almost cost The Rock, and the WWF, victory in their elimination matchup by attacking The Rock again, turning heel once again. On December 9, at Vengeance, Jericho defeated both The Rock for the WCW Championship (unbranded and only referred to as the World Championship following Survivor Series) and Stone Cold Steve Austin for his WWF Championship on the same night to become the first wrestler to hold both championships at the same time, which made him the first Undisputed WWF Championship. He fought both of the men he defeated at Vengeance on separate occasions and retained his title at the next two pay-per-views, Royal Rumble (vs. The Rock) and No Way Out (vs. Stone Cold). Jericho later lost the title to Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania X8. After his title loss, Jericho became a member of the SmackDown! roster and continued his feud with Triple H. The rivalry culminated at Judgment Day when Triple H defeated Jericho in a Hell in a Cell match. Teaming and feuding with Christian and Face Turn (2002–2004) Jericho was later drafted to Raw, where he won the Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam (RVD). He then later formed a tag team with Christian, with whom he won the World Tag Team Championship, on October 14, 2002. Christian and Jericho lost the title in a fatal four-way elimination match, involving the teams of The Dudley Boyz, Booker T and Goldust, and William Regal and Lance Storm, on December 15, 2002 at Armageddon. On January 13, 2003, Jericho won an over-the-top-rope challenge against Kane, RVD, and Batista to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble match. He chose number two in order to start the match with Shawn Michaels, who had challenged Jericho to prove his claims that he was better than Michaels.'' After Michaels' entrance, Jericho entered as the second participant. Christian, in Jericho's attire, appeared while the real Jericho attacked Shawn from behind. He eliminated Michaels shortly afterward, but Michaels got his revenge later in the match by causing Test to eliminate Jericho. Jericho spent the most time of any other wrestler in that same Royal Rumble. Jericho simultaneously feuded with Test, Michaels, and Jeff Hardy. Jericho and Michaels fought again at WrestleMania XIX. In the end, Michaels scored the victory. Jericho, however, hit Michaels with a low blow after the match following an embrace. After this match, Jericho entered a rivalry with Goldberg, which was fueled by Goldberg's refusal to fight Jericho in WCW. During Jericho's first episode of the ''Highlight Reel, an interview show, where Goldberg was the guest, he complained that no-one wanted Goldberg in WWE and continued to insult him in the following weeks. On May 12 on Raw, a mystery assailant attempted to run over Goldberg with a limousine. A week later, Co-Raw General Manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin, interrogated several Raw superstars to find out who was driving the car. One of the interrogates was Lance Storm, who admitted that he was the assailant. Austin forced Storm into a match with Goldberg, who defeated Storm. After the match, Goldberg forced Storm to admit that Jericho was the superstar who conspired Storm into running him over. On May 26, Goldberg was once again a guest on the Highlight Reel. Jericho expressed jealousy towards Goldberg's success in WCW and felt that since joining WWE, he had achieved everything he had ever wanted in his career and all that was left was to defeat Goldberg and challenged him to a match. At Bad Blood, Goldberg settled the score with Jericho and defeated him. Later in 2003, Jericho began a romance with Trish Stratus while his tag team partner Christian began one with Lita. This, however, turned out to be a bet over who could sleep with their respective paramour first, with a Canadian dollar at stake. Stratus overheard this and ended her relationship with Jericho, who seemingly felt bad for using Stratus. After he saved her from an attack by Kane, Stratus agreed that the two of them could just be "friends", thus making Jericho a face. After Christian put Stratus in the Walls of Jericho while competing against her in a match, Jericho sought revenge on Christian, which led to a match at WrestleMania XX. Christian defeated Jericho after Stratus ran down and "inadvertently" struck Jericho (thinking it was Christian) and Christian got the roll-up. After the match, Stratus turned on Jericho and revealed that she and Christian were a couple. This revelation led to a handicap match at Backlash that Jericho won. Jericho won his seventh Intercontinental Championship at that year's Unforgiven in a ladder match against Christian. Jericho's seventh reign was short lived, as he lost it at Taboo Tuesday to Shelton Benjamin. Championship pursuits, Heel turn and departure (2004–2005) Jericho teamed up with Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, and Maven to take on Triple H, Batista, Edge, and Snitsky at Survivor Series. The match's stipulation stated that each member of the winning team would become the General Manager of Raw throughout the next four weeks. Jericho's team was victorious, so they took turns as General Manager. During Jericho's turn as General Manager, he stripped Triple H of his World Heavyweight Championship because a Triple Threat match for the title a week earlier ended in a draw. At New Year's Revolution, Jericho competed in the Elimination Chamber against Triple H, Chris Benoit, Batista, Randy Orton, and Edge for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship. Jericho began the match with Benoit but Batista ultimately eliminated Jericho. At WrestleMania 21, Jericho participated in the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match. Jericho suggested the match concept, and he competed in the match against Benjamin, Benoit, Kane, Christian, and Edge. Jericho lost the match when Edge claimed the briefcase. At Backlash, Jericho challenging Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship, but lost the match. On June 12, 2005, Jericho wrestled in his first match of the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event against his former rival, Lance Storm. Jericho used his old 'Lionheart' gimmick, instead of his more well known 'Y2J' gimmick. However, Jericho lost the match, after Jason and Justin Credible hit Jericho's head with a Singapore Cane, which allowed Storm to win the match. Later that June, Jericho turned on WWE Champion John Cena, turned heel once again. Jericho lost a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Vengeance which also involved Christian and Cena. The feud continued throughout the summer and Jericho lost to Cena in a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jericho#cite_note-52His last appearance in WWE on the next night on the August 22 episode of Raw, Jericho faced Cena again in a rematch, this time in a "You're fired" match. Cena won again, and Jericho was fired by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff, after the match, Jericho turned on Bischoff. However, Jericho was carried out of the arena by security, Kurt Angle attacked Cena.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jericho#cite_note-53WWE announced that Jericho's WWE contract had expired on August 25, 2005. In wrestling *'Primary Finisher' **'Walls of Jericho' (Elevated Boston crab) *'Secondary Finisher' **'Codebreaker' (Double knee facebreaker) *'Signature Moveset' **Armbar **Backhand chop **Diving European uppercut **Double powerbomb pin **Double underhook transitioned into either a backbreaker or a powerbomb **'Flashback' (Sleeper slam, sometimes to an oncoming opponent) **Leapfrog body guillotine to an opponent draped over the second rope, with theatrics **'Lionsault' (Springboard moonsault) **'Jericho Spike' (Hurricanrana, sometimes from the top rope) **Jericho steps on the opponent's chest with one foot in a pinning attempt, with theatrics **Missile dropkick **One–handed bulldog **Spinning wheel kick **Springboard dropkick to an opponent on the ring apron **Springboard plancha **Standing, leg–feed, or a running enzuigiri *'Nickname' **'Y2J' **'The Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla' *'Theme Music' **''" "'' by Category:WWE Raw Superstars